Queen’s University Belfast Nursing Interview Questions

Queen’s University Belfast Nursing Interview Questions

Applicants who have succeeded at the Personal Statement stage of the selection process will be invited for interview. From 2016, we are using a Multiple Mini Interview format for our interviews; a seven-station multiple assessment which will evaluate each candidate’s skills and attributes and ensure that we select the best candidates for the Nursing and Midwifery professions.

This process assesses each candidate’s non-cognitive abilities, such as empathy, integrity, teamworking and communication skills. These were identified by NIPEC as the key skills and attributes needed to be an exceptional nurse or midwife in the Gateway to Nursing project.

When you arrive, you will go to the registration desk at the time you’ve been given, and present all of the paperwork you have been asked to bring. You will then be shown to a waiting room, and undergo a briefing on the process. You will then be brought to your interview circuit, and the interviews will begin. There is a short video at the bottom of this page to show how the process works.

The MMIs will be held in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, MBC, Lisburn Road, in our Clinical Education Centre. The process will take up to one and a half hours in total including the interview, briefing session, verification of identity and other paperwork. The interviews will be conducted by members of academic staff and professional nurses and midwives. Only in exceptional circumstances will we interview candidates via Skype (for example international students who cannot travel).

The interview is your opportunity to show us that you have the qualities and attributes required to be a good nurse or midwife. There will be a list of items to bring with you in your interview letter. Please read it carefully and bring everything listed; good preparation is key to a successful interview.

The format will be as follows:

You will arrive and register for interview – you will need photo ID and other documentation we require for Access NI purposes.

If you have applied for more than one of our courses, you will be asked to sign forms attached to your invitation email to tell us which area or course within nursing or midwifery you would prefer to study. Please read them carefully as we use these to help us decide which course you will be offered.

You will be directed to a waiting room, where you will receive a briefing on the MMIs process and sign a confidentiality agreement.

You will leave all of your belongings, phones, etc. in the briefing room (which will be locked), and you will be directed to one of the interview circuits, which will be labelled by colour.

There will be seven stations within each circuit, and you will progress between each one, spending 5 minutes at each.

There will be one minute to prepare for each station and read the instructions; then you will enter and begin at the sound of the buzzer.

When you have completed all of the stations you will go back to the briefing room, collect your belongings, and there will be an opportunity to feed back or ask questions.

You will then be free to leave. You will be expected to keep details of the interview stations confidential; any breach will be treated extremely seriously and you may be putting your chance of a place on the programme at risk.

The stations will test values such as communication, empathy, accountability, integrity and trust. A number of the stations will have Simulated Patients and you will be given specific everyday scenarios that you will be required to respond to. Simulated patients are role players who have specific training in MMIs and will help you to engage in the scenarios.

We recommend that you should:

Arrive at exactly the appointment time given in your invitation letter with all your papers organised and ready for inspection (failure to bring appropriate paperwork, including photo ID, may result in your interview not going ahead)

Dress appropriately – neat, business like attire, and a tidy, professional-looking appearance. There may not be parking nearby so you may need comfortable shoes.

Be ready to talk to Simulated Patients, who may be present at a number of stations.

Be ready to deal with scenario based mock situations.

Try to stay relaxed and smile.

If you bring someone with you for support, we recommend that you find a coffee shop nearby where they can wait in comfort as there will not be space for them to wait at the interview venue.

If you cannot attend or are late please let us know. Only in exceptional circumstances will we be able to reschedule.

Interview scoring

The stations do not require any technical knowledge – they are designed to find out if you would make a good nurse or midwife and to find out why you have chosen this career. At each station the interviewer will use a grid to record scores on each aspect of your performance. The simulated patients (role players) will provide the interviewers with feedback which will contribute to the overall score.

We do not currently test for Maths or English, and you are not required to sit the HPAT test.

There are sample station videos available on the School of Medicine & Dentistry’s website here (please remember that we run a slightly different process and we work to different dates!)